Consequence Without Cause
by Kiva Taliana
Summary: Things move on a pace, with Jack and Ianto becoming pawns in whatever game the universe is playing.
Lisa had de-scaled the kettle.

Ianto knew he would have to make a joke, or at least say something. He had moaned for months, it was almost to the point she was getting a new one as a birthday present next month. It wouldn't be a real present, Ianto already has his eye on what he wanted, but it would be funny, a little joke, something to break the ice before…

He snapped the lid of the kettle down and looked around. He needed the butter and cheese from the fridge. It was a pleasant Sunday ritual, usually when they were hung over. Ianto was more hung over than usual. His nerves had been steadily mounting over the last three weeks, since that terrible visit to Cardiff.

Then he had been thrown a curve, as he was getting over the horror of being discovered, Yvonne Hartman had come to find him.

"You really have made an impression," she said. Ianto frowned. She had been very pleased by the information he had come back with, carefully edited so it looked like he had complied it, rather than the Torchwood 3 team.

"Jack was so pleased with your work when you started getting involved in the archives."

Ianto had jumped at that. Yvonne hardly noticed but Tim Amos, her private secretary, who was in tow, studied Ianto intensely. Ianto had very carefully try to compose the unruffled, stoic façade that he really seemed to need now.

"So he'd like you for two weeks next month." Yvonne Hartman had smirked at him. "Plenty of time to get to know them all."

And over the build up Ianto had become increasingly apprehensive. He hadn't had any contact with Jack. Tim had confirmed the dates and organised the travel. Ianto just felt that he was being shunted about at everyone else's whim and he didn't quite know what to do about it.

Lisa stirred in the bedroom. She wouldn't get up until he started making breakfast, as he always did. Ianto didn't feel particularly hungry but he supposed he had better show some willing. He shouldn't have got so drunk last night but he hadn't been able to help in.

Most of the girls on the night out, Lisa's and his friends, had put his mood down to the fact that he was going to be without Lisa for two weeks; which they all thought was sweet. Lisa had looked a little embarrassed but pleased, so Ianto had let the assumption hold. He couldn't have told her if he wanted to anyway. His assignment was secret, part of it anyway.

Ianto stopped messing about and plugged in the kettle. He didn't want to ruin today, their last day before his two weeks away. Although hopefully he could escape Torchwood 3 for the weekend in between and come home to see Lisa.

The bed creaked next door as Lisa heard him setting up for breakfast. Ianto pulled himself together. He had to think of something to say about the kettle but his mind was a bit blank. He was saved by his phone ringing. It was on the kitchen counter, plugged in to charge up overnight. It reminded him he had better pack the charger.

Without thinking he went to pick it up, not bothering to check the display to see who it was. Normally it would be Sophie, demanding to know if she had done something embarrassing or to regale him about something he had done. That was usually rare; Ianto didn't often get as drunk as he had last night. Normally he maintained some semblance of control.

"Hello?" he answered as Lisa bounded into the room grinning, Ianto smiled back.

"Ianto!"

Lisa watched him carefully as his eyes widened and his heart shuddered in shock.

"Jack, hi." Ianto blinked. Instinct made him want to turn away from Lisa, or try and hurry from the room but that would only confuse her. Nothing was wrong; he had to make sure he projected that.

"Sorry to call you so early, didn't wake you did I?" Jack asked as if suddenly realising the time and day.

"No, no, not at all, just very hung over." A universal excuse for anything and Ianto clung to it.

Jack chuckled. "Sorry. I'm not good at following these odd customs about not phoning at certain times. If I'd have remembered I'd have called you later."

"What's the matter?" Ianto suddenly slightly alarmed as to why Jack was ringing him.

"Nothing, nothing." Jack's voice was hurried and Ianto relaxed slightly. "Just ringing to check you are okay, I'll pick you up from the station tomorrow."

"You don't need to do that," Ianto said.

"I don't mind, it will save you lugging a suitcase of cute suits to the hotel."

Ianto got the point, or at least he thought it did. He was going to be on a very tight leash for the next two weeks. No one was going to trust him for a moment. Instead of arguing he gave in to the inevitable.

"Okay, that would be great." He watched Lisa pour out the water from the kettle. She held it up grinning and wriggled her hips, utterly triumphant about her de-scaling skills. Ianto managed a wan smile, it was hard to concentrate on her when Jack was making his heart hammer violently and Ianto wanted to put the mild shaking of his body down to excess alcohol.

"Sorry, I missed that," Ianto said, realising Jack was talking.

"Just about the weekend, I don't want to monopolise you completely but we could take in some sights, normal sights I mean, nothing alien; although…"

"Well," Ianto cut Jack off before he could get started. "I was hoping to get back for the weekend, you know… to see Lisa."

Lisa smiled. She moved up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. It settled him a little more, grounding him into being able to behave normally, in that nothing was wrong. Unfortunately that meant she could hear Jack's clear, accented voice as he talked.

"Well… why doesn't she come to Cardiff for the weekend?"

The rubbing on his shoulder stopped and Lisa leant up slightly to eavesdrop.

"I don't know if…"

"Come on. The place isn't that terrible. Tell you what, if she comes up Friday I'll take you both out for a meal, then I promise… absolutely promise you can have the weekend to yourselves, you can do some sight-seeing, holding hands at the top of the castle, that kind of thing. I'd like to meet her."

"I'll see what she thinks," Ianto said miserably, although he hid it remarkably well. The arms around his waist squeezed a little. "I'll let you know tomorrow."

"Great!" Jack announced brightly. "See you then."

He hung up before Ianto could say anything else, even a polite goodbye. Jack didn't seem the type to worry about things that like. Once they were finished talking that was that. Lisa squeezed again.

"Don't you want me to come and visit you?" she asked.

"Of course." That went without saying, but he was wary of allowing her to come to Cardiff. He didn't really want her involved in the mess but it was too late for that now.

"And meeting the infamous Captain Jack Harkness," she added enthusiastically. Ianto restrained the groan of resignation that was rising up in him.

He wasn't worried about Lisa meeting Jack, not in that sense. True, he'd probably flirt with her and flatter her but there would be no intention of actually trying to seduce her. Jack didn't think like that.

The main point of it was Ianto's appointment as Torchwood 3's 'Liaison Officer' had turned him into a celebrity overnight. People who used to ignore him, or look down on him as a lowly researcher, were polite, friendly and everyone eagerly went to fetch him a coffee, just so they could pause and chat with him. It was getting to the point - Ianto was always polite about it when he was offered a drink - that he actually thought he would go into serious physical withdrawal if he stopped drinking the stuff. And it probably wasn't doing his nerves any good.

Lisa, as well, was caught on the coat-tails of that. Because of the interest in him it had been noticed that he was dating her. Yvonne Hartman probably encouraged that assumption. So people talked to her in the hope of getting some information. Lisa rather enjoyed it, not that she was really taking advantage, it had all happened by default but no doubt the attention would increase if she actually met the 'infamous' Captain Harkness.

Ianto was now privy to every rumour about him, especially about the fact he never seemed to age. People that had known him in the nineties talked about the fact that he hadn't changed and it was suspected about how long he had been around. No one could really prove anything, only those associated with Project 345 knew that exactly.

But theories flew about, he was an alien in human disguise, who hadn't worked out aging yet; a Torchwood experiment gone wrong; he had been infected by something alien years back; he was trapped in some kind of time loop. They went on and on.

In actual fact Ianto thought that if they found out the truth they would probably find it rather boring. Still, he couldn't actually tell anyone so he didn't worry about what was said, nor did he comment on it.

Lisa meeting him put a different perspective on that. And she was always up for some kind of adventure, taking him off camping, picnics, anything that caught her eye. It was the spontaneity that he loved about her. He was never very good at it himself.

If she hadn't heard the invitation then he could have not told her and told Jack that she couldn't make it. But fate had taken the decision out of his hands.

Lisa was going to Cardiff to meet Jack.

XxxxxxxxxxxxX

It seemed a little less of an awful prospect on Friday. Lisa's train was inevitably delayed. Which, when she called, reiterated the 'buying a car' conversation. With the delay it meant Ianto worried less about Lisa meeting Jack and he just concerned himself with her actually getting there.

When she finally arrived she phoned him.

"Are you all right? Do you want me to come and meet you?" Ianto asked.

"No, I'm all icky. The air conditioning wasn't working too well in the carriage and the train was absolutely packed. They cancelled the one before so there were two train's worth of people on it. I'll go to the hotel and freshen up; I don't want anyone seeing me the state I'm in. I'll meet you at the restaurant."

"Take a taxi," Ianto said.

"Ianto?" she said reproachfully.

"I want you to be careful."

"I'm always careful," Lisa said. "You don't need to fuss. I am a grown up Ianto."

"I know, I'll see you soon."

"Everything all right?" Jack asked as Ianto hung up. Ianto nodded.

"Fine. I just worry, and I know I shouldn't. She's travelled halfway across Europe and around Australia backpacking, she's… sensible but I just…"

"Can't help worrying," Jack finished for him. "Well of course, that's perfectly human."

Ianto blinked at that but then went back to the subject at hand. "She said she'd meet us at the restaurant, about seven thirty she guessed."

Jack shrugged, "that's all right, the table is booked for eight, we can have a quick drink at the bar first, and you can do some polite introductions."

Ianto smiled. That was going to be interesting.

A little later as they walked to the restaurant, Ianto wondered if Jack was up to some little psychological trick since he had picked the Italian restaurant he had taken Ianto to last time. But then Ianto decided he was reading too much into it. Jack liked the restaurant, he knew it, he knew the food was good and nothing much could go wrong with the meal.

"So it wasn't too bad this week then?" Jack asked, strolling along with his hands in his pockets and his coat trailing out behind. Jack acted as if he knew he would attract attention, and it was, like everything else, worthwhile doing properly. Ianto, however, realised that while Jack had awareness of the fact he was looked at he wasn't aiming for it. He just seemed to know it happened and although what he did and the way he behaved encouraged it, the action wasn't conscious. One was just the consequence of the other.

Ianto smiled ruefully, "it felt very much like everyone had been told to play nicely with the distant cousin that they really don't like."

Jack smiled.

"You did tell them to play nice, didn't you?" Ianto pressed.

Jack's smile turned a little rueful. "I wouldn't have exactly put it like that, but I did tell them to leave off a little. I know they were pissed off."

"They had every right to be. So did you."

"And I was pissed off too, but not at you. It's not your fault, and you were quite right, Torchwood really doesn't like people saying no to them."

Ianto watched the slight faraway look in Jack's eyes.

"Did they force you to start working for them?"

Jack glanced at him sharply. He knew that wasn't in the file. No one had thought it worthwhile writing up at the time. One diary somewhere contained the information and Jack had that securely locked away along with a good many secrets about the rift.

"In a manner of speaking," Jack said. "And it seemed like a good way to fill my time."

Ianto raised his eyebrows but knew Jack was not going to elaborate further than that. They were nearly at the restaurant. He glanced at his watch, twenty past seven. Lisa would probably be there. She was often early, she never liked to keep people waiting, especially Ianto.

As they turned the corner they paused. The restaurant lay a little way in front of them and the side street that ran along side it, shooting off from the main road was a mass of people. There was a gathering of passers-by, and from down the street Jack saw the flashing blue lights. A police presence.

"Oh," Ianto said looking at it in surprise. Jack walked forward and they both skirted the crowd. Several uniformed officers were holding the massed group back, doing a better job than the flimsy tape they had put across the street. Two police cars also blocked it a little further down.

Jack stared; when he had reached the edge of the crowd by the restaurant he could get a clearer view. Slowly he started to ease forward. Ianto didn't move for a moment, instead he looked into the crowd still in the restaurant, thinned out by the interest outside. He couldn't see Lisa in the bar area, there was only one woman there. Not Lisa

He followed Jack, taking a little longer to move through the crowd. Jack had a very strong presence. He could make people move aside for him with just a word and a charming smile, or an icy glare, whatever the situation demanded. This time it just took authority. He gave off the air of someone who needed to get through the crowd because it was necessary for him to be there. The police started to move the crowd back slightly and Ianto finally caught up with Jack.

Jack glanced at him as he came up to his side.

"I can't see Lisa in the restaurant. I wonder if she's here." He scanned the crowd.

"Could be the taxi might have tried to come down here." Jack jumped as his phone began to ring. Everyone glared at him, as if he had breached some kind of gawping crowd etiquette. It was obvious a serious crime had been committed, that was why he was interested. In this town there was a possibility the perpetrator was not human. Plus, Suzie was still looking for victims to use the glove on. Harsh, but true. Jack wasn't sure he wanted Ianto around to see that. He needed to get him in the restaurant. Even if Lisa and he had their meal without Jack.

He glared back at the people close to him, who watched him answering his phone until his severe blue eyes caught there gaze and then they looked elsewhere, some even shuffling away.

"If you could just clear away please!" a uniformed WPC shouted, she raised her voice, sounding irritated but authoritative. As she tried to herd Jack back he moved a little but not as much as she would have liked. "Sir!" she snapped at him.

Jack raised his hand to ward her off and answered his phone. "Suzie?"

"A body's been found in a side street, it's just come over the scanner."

"I know, we're stood here, how far away are you?"

"Right here."

A second later the Torchwood SUV roared into view. If the police were not brilliant at clearing the crowd, the SUV certainly was. Owen was driving and he slowed enough to make sure that he didn't hit anyone but fast enough to scatter the crowd. Jack smirked. Why the hell would anyone want to stand there watching? He had a legitimate reason at least. The human race was so macabre, he decided.

"Hi," Jack said into his phone and then snapped it shut as the doors opened. Owen and Suzie from the front, Toshiko from the back. Behind them some of the officers started to clear away, looking confused at the order but obeying anyway. Suzie had obviously cleared the special access on the way over. Torchwood always moved fast.

"I can't see Lisa," Ianto said in concern.

"Give her a call," Jack said. "Chances are if she's took a taxi, he would have wanted to drive down this way. Might be she's caught in traffic if the driver has had to take a detour."

Ianto nodded, that sounded logical. He pulled his phone out and started to dial, only realising then that his hands were shaking. It hadn't really been a clear feeling until now, but something had been nagging away at him and he didn't know why.

Her number was on the speed dial so it took no time for him to connect through. As he put the phone to his ear his head whipped round. The ringing of a phone echoed around loudly, a distinctive, slightly tinny, sounding tune that he would have known anywhere.

Coming directly from the cordoned off crime scene.

XxxxxxxxxxxxX

Jack was slow to react. It took him a moment to realise what was happening. He had turned to talk to Suzie and the others. A second later he turned back. He reached to try and stop Ianto but the younger man was too swift. Jack caught empty air as Ianto was under the tape and away from him.

The female officer tried to stop him. By the look in her eyes she also immediately guessed what was going on, and didn't want Ianto to see. However, panic gave Ianto strength and disregard. He grabbed her by the arms and threw her away. Thankfully her partner was nearby and he caught her swiftly before she could land heavily on the tarmac. Instead he took the brunt of the impact, with both of them going down in a tangle of limbs.

The female officer was up in a flash as Jack ducked under the tape in pursuit.

"Torchwood!" he snapped loudly, clearing back anyone else who tried to stop him. Behind him Suzie, Owen and Toshiko all followed, each one of them mumbling the word Torchwood with varying degrees of clarity as they ducked under the tape and ran behind him.

Jack caught Ianto as they reached the crime scene. He had paused in shock which gave Jack a chance to hook his arm around Ianto, pinning his arms down, so he could only put up a minimal struggle. Jack kept him held closely to his side as he surveyed the scene. Ianto tensed but didn't fight, for the moment shock held him still.

Lisa - Jack presumed it was Lisa - lay in the small little alley that ran behind the restaurant. There had been no real attempt to hide her. She lay on her back, her head tilted to the side, her dark eyes open, fixed on nothing, her arms splayed out. In the harsh lights Jack saw the trail of blood that led from the street to the alley. He guessed initially that she had been killed and then dragged into the alleyway.

What was the point of that, unless the point was to try and hide her and the killer had been disturbed? If they had wanted her found, leaving her out in the street would have been less hassle. But at this point in time Jack could only guess.

"Hey! You can't…" one of the scene of crime officers looked up and glared at them.

"Torchwood!" Jack snapped again. "You were told to clear the area. So clear the area!"

Jack tried not to raise his voice. Not with Ianto pinned so closely to him. The young man tried to struggle forward. Shock had given him extra strength and he dragged Jack a couple of steps forward to the entrance of the alleyway. The smell of cooking food drifted from the back of the restaurant mingling with the sharp tang of blood.

"Oh God," Ianto whimpered, and then he jerked in Jack's arms. "Get off me!"

"Ianto, no. Owen?"

Owen was already moving. He had snapped on a pair of surgical gloves and was moving carefully around the body, looking her up and down. Toshiko was also moving. She had pulled out a scanner and she was very carefully tracking the blood spatters on the ground.

Jack said nothing. Ianto had gone still again watching them both carefully. His eyes snapped from one to the other, his body tense with a volatile cocktail of emotions. It wouldn't take much to set him off. For the moment a small logical part of his mind was still active. They could assess what had happened, find some evidence. But that wasn't going to last long. Jack could sense in a minute or so Ianto was going to lose it.

"Owen?" he asked, wanting information before that happened. Owen leant forward, gingerly lifting Lisa's blouse up, moving it away from the wound, but very cautiously, trying not to expose her bra. Ianto gave a low angry growl. Owen didn't look up, he lightly touched Lisa navel, slick with blood that was oozing out of the jagged wound. Ianto snarled again.

"Looks like a knife, fairly large I think, it's a bit hard to tell," Owen said flatly, focussed on the job in hand.

Ianto pulled Jack a little closer but he didn't fight to get out of the grip. Owen moved to examine her arms and hands.

"Looks like she put up a fight, it might be why the trail goes from there to there." He indicated the line of blood that ran from the pavement of the street into the little alleyway. It ran no more than about five metres but it was enough.

"That's consistent," Toshiko said quietly. She ducked back out away from them. Jack let her go, it was not an easy situation. He needed to get Ianto out of there as soon as possible.

"We should take her out of here," Owen said. "Back at the hub I…"

"NO!" Ianto roared. He put up a fight. He slammed his elbow hard into Jack's ribs. So hard that Jack felt something snap. He had expected Ianto to struggle, so he would be pulled to a point that he would eventually let him go. This took Jack by surprise. Jack let go of Ianto and staggered back. Ianto's right hook caught him on the jaw throwing him backwards while he was still gasping for breath. He landed in an unceremonious heap on the floor.

Ianto ran to Lisa. Owen backed off. He had put Ianto down as a slight wimp, who couldn't fight. Two well placed blows changed that opinion. Ianto moving the body and disturbing the scene wouldn't make a difference, between them Owen and Tosh had everything they needed. All the data was recorded. He looked over at Suzie and the box she was still holding. It occurred to Owen that so far she hadn't put any input into the events.

She stayed away, out in the main area of the street looking at Ianto in the way that someone would watch an interesting experiment, trying to gauge what would happen next. Suzie watched as Ianto knelt on the floor, gathering Lisa up in his arms, crying as he did so.

"Okay," Jack said, still sprawled on the floor. "We need to commandeer one of the ambulances, get her… get Lisa back to the hub and…"

"No!" Ianto turned and roared at him. He held Lisa close to him; her body remained limp and unresponsive. But still he held her, as if that might make everything all right.

"She's not going to Torchwood!"

Jack nodded slowly, moving closer to Ianto.

"But she can't stay here. The ambulance men need to take her, she can go to the hospital, if that's better."

Ianto gazed up at him, his blue eyes wide. Jack could see the pain and see something screaming inside Ianto. He clung onto the body tightly. Jack knew the rest of his team didn't need the hint, they retreated. Hopefully what they found would help do something. Ianto was now smeared with blood, over his arms, shirt and trousers.

"I want to stay with her," Ianto said. "I don't want her to be on her own."

Jack nodded slowly. "okay Ianto, that's fine if that's what you want."

"This isn't what I want," Ianto said in an eerily calm voice. He looked up at Jack, the street lights caught his eyes harshly, making them shine.

"Jack, this is the last thing I want."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ianto held Lisa's hand. It remained cold and unyielding but he hoped it brought her some comfort. He couldn't honestly say that it was working for him but he could protect her at least. The pristine white sheet covered up the wound so Ianto didn't need to look at it. Lisa had been cleaned up and then Ianto had identified her, formally.

The police had come down to the morgue. He had still refused to be separated from her. He had gone in the ambulance and stayed every step of the way. Ianto was not going to leave her alone. Everyone around him had been warned that he was working for Torchwood, although Ianto didn't know that. He just, in his shock and ignorance, thanked everyone when they helped him, presuming they were just being understanding of his situation.

Including WPC Cooper. She had been with him when he had formally identified Lisa and he had looked at her with horror as the memories of the evening replayed. Because he remembered throwing her back so violently. Her partner had stood behind her, watching carefully.

When he had recognised her Ianto had gasped. "Oh I'm sorry, you were… God, I'm really sorry."

"It's fine, I mean, I understand." She had put a hand on his arm, not only just to reassure him but to also stop him touching her again, making sure the distance stayed. Ianto had looked away, feeling embarrassed and sick, his stomach churning.

"Can I stay with her?" Ianto asked.

The policewoman had nodded. She had backed away and led her partner from the room at the same time. And from then on Ianto had been alone. He didn't know how long he had sat there, time had no meaning whatsoever, and he knew he couldn't stay like that forever.

But for now it was fine. Ianto held her hand and sat next to her, looking at her. Her face looked peaceful now, her dark skin taking on a slightly green tinge, but that could have been the harsh light overhead. Someone had carefully closed her eyes. Ianto shuddered as he remembered that blank stare as she had lain helpless in the alleyway, with Jack clinging onto him tightly.

The back of Ianto's mind stirred as he realised he had not only lost track of time but also of people. He didn't know where Jack was. That concerned him but Ianto guessed he wouldn't be that far away.

Ianto jumped as the door crashed open. It was not the subtle opening of someone who would deal with him cautiously and neither was the entrance of the group of people that suddenly arrived. He recognised them immediately; they were wearing the Torchwood military uniform and were all armed, looking serious. Six of them in total; five soldiers and one Commanding Officer. They were wheeling a trolley, on which lay an open body bag.

The commanding officer scanned the room, briefly alighting his eyes on Ianto and then dismissing him. He looked at Lisa.

"Get the body ready ASAP; we don't want too many civilians to see us." The Commanding Officer ordered his men, the five people moved to do exactly as told. Ianto stared at them in disbelief.

"You can't do that!" Ianto snapped. All five soldiers turned to look at him. The Commanding Officer's eyes stopped on him again and stayed levelled at him. Ianto hardened his jaw and glared back.

"I can. My orders are to take the body, and you, into custody and return you to Torchwood 1." The voice was level, almost bored sounding; as if picking up corpses and people and taking them wherever he was ordered was just in a days work. Which it probably actually was.

"Jack wouldn't order that!" Ianto snapped.

"Captain Harkness." The Commanding Officer spat the name out dismissively and with as much contempt as he could muster. "Has no need to be aware of these orders. They are from the Director herself."

One solider moved towards the table where Lisa lay and another moved to the far side, to go past Ianto, not considering him to be anything of a threat. He might not have actually been, if they hadn't been talking about packing up and loading his girlfriend's body, to be taken to Torchwood London for God knows what reason.

Ianto lashed out he punched the nearest solider hard in the face, making him fall back.

"You are not taking her anywhere!" Ianto tensed ready for the fight. Now he wondered where the hell Jack was. There was no way he would allow this Ianto told himself, but why else would he be absent? Ianto didn't know how long ago he had last seen Jack. It was some point between the alleyway and the hospital, Ianto thought, but he didn't know. Would Jack really leave him like this?

As that all ran through Ianto's mind the Commanding Officer looked him up and down coldly.

"Taylor, Blake, deal with him, restrain him if necessary. You three get that corpse ready to be transported."

Everyone moved and Ianto snarled. Taylor and Blake watched him carefully and then glanced at each other. They made the decision without saying a word. Blake moved forward.

"Come on, don't make this any worse."

It couldn't get any worse, Ianto's inner voice roared at him. Lisa is dead. As the two men moved closer he lashed out. He hadn't really thought about it at the time but he had been lucky with the two blows he had landed on Jack. For two reasons. One, Jack wasn't expecting it and two, he'd have never fought Ianto back anyway. He would more than likely let Ianto exhaust himself and get it out of his system rather than try and control it.

Taylor and Blake however were nothing like Jack. They had a job to do and the why's and wherefore's didn't mean much to them. Ianto's eyes flickered from one to the other, his body tensed ready for a fight his mind told him he couldn't win. Logic told him the best, easiest thing to do was to allow it to happen. Logic, however, had very little to do with grief and as Ianto caught sight of them lifting Lisa, rather unceremoniously between the three of them he snapped. He tried to punch Blake and as Blake dealt with that Taylor grabbed Ianto's other arm.

Ianto tried to pull away from him but Taylor kicked him in the back of the leg pitching him forward onto his knees. Ianto winced at the jarring force as he landed and yelped as one arm was twisted behind his back. The other arm, as he struggled, was caught in a firm grip by Blake, who was pulling the handcuffs from his belt.

"Hurry up!" Taylor snapped.

Ianto let out a string of obscenities as he felt the cold metal tighten around his wrist. No one paid him much attention as he screamed at them. Blake yanked his arm behind his back and then Taylor pulled the other one down out of the arm lock to secure that as well. Then he transferred his grip to Ianto's hair and clamped his other hand down over his mouth to keep him quiet. Ianto tried to bite him but the thick leather glove meant that the effort was wasted. Blake concentrated on holding him down, planting a foot on the back of one of Ianto's legs to stop him from trying to get to his feet.

"Have we got anything we can gag him with?" Blake asked. Taylor shrugged. Ianto swore at them but from behind Taylor's hand it came out muffled and incoherent.

"Just keep him subdued as best you can, when we get to the warehouse Munro can sedate him before transport," the CO snapped.

Everyone jumped as the door crashed open again, Jack burst through, his gun was out in a flash and the Commanding Officer ended up staring at Jack's angry face, via the barrel of his pistol.

"What the hell is going on?" he demanded. He honestly had no idea, he was coming down the corridor to the morgue, to the room where he knew Lisa was to try and remove Ianto. On his way down he had heard screaming, which had sounded like Ianto's voice. He held the gun steady on his right hand and activated his comm. with the left.

"Suzie, get down here." There was a short pause. Then Jack roared at her. "Now!"

"This has nothing to do with you, Captain," the CO said.

"Yes it does. Now what are you doing?"

"The Director's orders," the CO announced haughtily. "The body and…." he paused as he glanced at Ianto, not even remembering his name. "We're to take them back to Torchwood London immediately, by any means possible."

Jack raised his eyebrows slightly. Ianto watched carefully, his eyes flickering to Lisa's body. She was on the trolley, half in the body bag. The sheet has slipped exposing her torso and the wound in her stomach. Jack's face tensed and he crossed the room towards her. The three men handling her stepped back, sensing the aggression coming off Jack in waves. Ianto watched as Jack, very carefully, pulled the sheet back up over her, covering her up again. He did it gently, his face losing the anger as he tided her up. Ianto stopped struggling, although Taylor and Blake made no move to let him go. Jack turned back to the CO.

"They are going nowhere."

"Well, you need to take that up with Director Hartman then."

Jack glanced at Ianto still pinned down by the two men. "Are you all right?" he asked, and then he looked up and glared at Taylor who took his hand away from Ianto's mouth.

Ianto nodded. "Jack, what's going on?" His voice sounded strained, raw from the bout of screaming. Jack gave a tentative half-smile.

"That is what I intend to find out. I want to speak to Yvonne, so get her now," he ordered the CO. Jack knew full well that if he tried to call, he wouldn't get through. She wouldn't want to talk to him about this. The CO backed up, pulling his mobile phone out as he did so. He left the room and went out into the corridor. Jack's eyes narrowed, then he glanced at Ianto. Unless he put up a huge fuss now Ianto was staying where he was, handcuffed and subdued, and he's miss his chance to talk to Yvonne. He gave Ianto a sympathetic smile and followed the CO out of the room.

"Yes, Director," the CO was saying into the phone as Jack stepped out of the door. "However…"

Jack snatched the phone. "However, neither of them are going anywhere, certainly not in the way you are doing this. What the hell are you planning to do, drug him up to the eyeballs and keep him in the containment area?"

The silence down the phone meant that Yvonne was shocked by his voice and the fact that he had interfered, and additionally he had hit the nail right on the head. Eventually, however, she recovered herself and her voice as she spoke, was perfectly smooth and unruffled.

"It's procedure," she said. "Especially when the death is suspicious, which this clearly is. If Mr Jones is not prepared to co-operate with Torchwood procedures then measures will be taken. Also procedure."

Jack exploded. "Jesus Christ Yvonne!" he bellowed down the phone at her. "He is not some piece of equipment to be transported around at everyone else's convenience!"

"Really?" the smooth voice asked. "Isn't that what we've been doing with him?"

Jack was so nonplussed that he couldn't answer for a moment. Yvonne's smooth, calm voice carried on talking.

"And we have to treat it as suspicious since there was no particular reason that Lisa Hallet should have been in Cardiff, we may have to assume…"

"She was here because I invited her!" Jack snapped. "Ianto had the weekend free, I had no intention of having him around the hub those two days, he was free to do as he liked. There was no reason for her not to be here, they are a couple!"

"And what particular reason did you want Mr Jones out of Torchwood 3?"

Jack winced. There was a very good reason. The likelihood of a drunken fight or a violent death of some other kind over the weekend had better odds than mid-week. Jack didn't want any of the glove research getting into Torchwood 1's hands. Ianto had only seen the initial tests and they didn't give much information into the glove's use. Suzie had found that out by accident. They had planned to wait for a report of a death over the weekend and test it.

Suzie's theory of times of violent deaths had certainly been proved right, in the worst way possible. And now Jack was responsible for the clean up.

"No reason," Jack answered flatly. "This happened here, nothing suspicious, just a random attack. I will deal with it, which means leaving Ianto and Lisa here."

"If that's the case, why are they not contained at Torchwood 3?" Yvonne asked. The tone of her voice told her she knew exactly why. Jack had bottled forcing Ianto into it, letting the usual authorities take the investigation. Jack knew exactly what Ianto had said during questioning and as usual procedure he had been considered a suspect. However Jack had pointed out to the pretty WPC Cooper that Ianto had been with him and therefore Jack was his alibi.

Jack had been talking to her while Torchwood 1's goons had invaded the building. His suspicions had only been roused when Tosh had phone d to report a military helicopter landing at the private airfield just outside Cardiff.

"We need to investigate it ourselves Jack," Yvonne said. The polite use of his name put him on further alert. "She's not the first Torchwood employee to have died. She's the twenty-second."

"Since when?"

"Since the spatial disturbance contracted."

"You think it's connected?" Jack asked. There was no answer. So Jack answered for her. "In which case, you need my help in looking into this. Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Certain things you don't need to know. You don't run Torchwood, Captain Harkness."

As she spoke Jack felt an ominous shiver, the air almost hummed with something that reached out to almost choke him, his tongue tingled violently, suddenly feeling too large for his mouth.

"I do in Cardiff."

He handed the phone back to the CO who was staring at him with wide eyes, almost seeing something that had not been there before. Jack strode back into the room and glared at Taylor and Blake, who were still holding Ianto down.

"Get off him!"

Blake stepped back, Taylor moved to unlock the handcuffs and both of them backed away as Jack moved to help Ianto up and sit him down carefully on the nearby chair. Jack hovered close to him and no one dared move as the CO came back into the room. His back was straight; his face fixed and eyes snapping furiously.

"Director Hartman says I am to take orders from you, Sir," the last word was almost choked out. At the same moment a clatter of feet heralded the arrival of Suzie and Owen. They both looked stunned at the sight of the Torchwood soldiers.

"Suzie, would you be so good as to escort these gentlemen out. Your orders are to go back to London, and never come here again."

As they left Jack sat down on the chair next to Ianto's. Ianto had put his head down in his hands and he sat there taking deep heavy breaths, trying to control the emotions welling up inside him.

"I'm sorry," Jack said.

"Why the hell did this happen?" Ianto asked. Jack winced; he expected an accusation to follow that. It was his idea for Lisa to come to Cardiff; Ianto could easily turn the blame onto him. But he didn't instead he sat up and looked at Jack. Ianto's blue eyes were bloodshot, glittering with inner pain, tears threatening to spill out.

Jack did the only thing he could as Ianto started to cry, he gathered him up in his arms and held onto him as tightly as he could. And as he did that he tried to desperately ignore the humming in the air. The metallic taste of it had faded, the energy changing and shifting. Jack forced it away by putting his face into Ianto's hair, taking in the smell of his shampoo and under that of the sweat and tears of his humanity.

But he knew he wasn't going to be able to ignore the feeling forever. Whatever the rift was doing, it needed to be stopped before many more people got hurt.


End file.
